Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers have served as the major supplier of hot meals to the American Red Cross for distribution to search and rescue workers in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Volunteer chaplains and pastoral counselors have worked alongside other Disaster Relief units and in a variety of other locations.
Here are some of the pertinent facts regarding the response as of 9 a.m., October 8:
Volunteer days: 4,678. (A "volunteer day" is defined as one volunteer working one day.)
Meals prepared: 283,086.
Locations and units that were activated:
• Pentagon parking lot, Washington, D.C. North Carolina mobile kitchen.
• New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn. Mobile kitchens from New York and Virginia. Mobile shower unit from North Carolina. Communication unit from South Carolina.
• United Parcel Service terminal, Manhattan. Mobile kitchen and shower unit from Tennessee.
• City-owned warehouse, Brooklyn. Mobile kitchen from Kentucky, shower unit from Tennessee.
• Raritan Baptist Church, Edison, N.J. Staging area for all incoming volunteers, staffed by a communication unit from Georgia.
• Chaplains were assigned at various locations in New York, including the Comfort Center for family members of victims and the morgue adjacent to the World Trade Center site. Thirteen chaplains were in New York, including teams from South Carolina and Oklahoma.
• Donors from forty states and Canada have given more than $815,000 for the Disaster Relief response online at www.namb.net. One hundred percent of those gifts will be used for Disaster Relief in the field, not for administration. Checks designated for Disaster Relief may also be sent to NAMB by mail at 4200 North Point Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30022.
The Southern Baptist Disaster Relief network, which includes more than 20,000 trained volunteers, is coordinated nationally by the North American Mission Board in cooperation with state Southern Baptist conventions. For more information and updates, visit www.namb.net/dr.
All those who wish to participate in future disaster relief efforts must go through appropriate training. For information on Disaster Relief Training contact your state convention.
"The Red Cross told me today, 'Everywhere we turn Southern Baptists are there.'"
• • • • •
"On one television interview, a FEMA representative said that those who wanted to give should send contributions to the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, or to Southern Baptists."
Robert E. Reccord
President, North American Mission Board
September 17, 2001
